In preseason, Bruins-Canadiens doesn't hold much significance

Some in the Bruins' lineup will play against former coach Claude Julien for the first time in Monday's preseason opener, but the main focus for both teams will be on evaluating young talent.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

BOSTON – Come January of 2018, this will mean a lot.

Come Monday night, though, Bruins vs. Canadiens will be for far fewer than all the marbles, and hold real meaning for only a small group of players.

The B’s and Habs, who never met last season after Boston fired Claude Julien on Feb. 7 and Montreal hired him a week later, open their respective preseason schedules on Monday in Quebec City’s Videotron Centre (7 p.m., no local TV or radio).

For any veterans in the Bruins’ lineup, particularly those who had never played for an NHL head coach besides Julien until Bruce Cassidy replaced him, the moment will carry some significance. Cassidy will acknowledge his predecessor, too.

“Oh, I’ll go over and say hello,” said Cassidy, who joined Julien’s staff as an assistant last season after eight years (five as head coach) with the Bruins’ AHL affiliate in Providence. “We’ll have a chat about training camp, like we did at the draft (last June 23-24 in Chicago), but I don’t think this game has much of a story line, other than it’s the first game for both teams evaluating their talent.”

While much of Cassidy’s first training camp is about identifying young talent that can contribute at the NHL level in 2017-18, Monday’s exhibition is about giving the very youngest players in camp their first taste of something like NHL competition, and seeing which ones might deserve another taste later in the week. The B’s also host the Red Wings on Tuesday night (7, WBZ-FM/98.5), after which several prospects are expected to be returned to teams in Europe or Canada’s Major Junior leagues.

“(Lineups will) definitely be on the younger side early on,” Cassidy said. “You’re doing a lot of individual evaluation. You’ve got X amount of spots, so we’re looking at what players are doing against NHL talent. That talent, throughout the exhibition season, will probably increase.”

When it comes to veterans, “if one of our main guys is noticeably dropping off, obviously we’d have a conversation,” Cassidy said, but seasoned players from other organizations (free agent acquisitions Paul Postma and Kenny Agostino; tryout candidate Teddy Purcell) will be judged differently.

“I know them on paper and I’ve seen them a bit, but let’s see them live,” Cassidy said. “What are (their) strengths? See how they adapt to what we’re trying. Those are the guys that you’re looking at how their system play is more than the younger guys, because we know they can play in the league.”

While Cassidy and Julien will be coaching different teams in the same game on Monday, Cassidy doesn’t feel like he’ll be matching wits with his former boss.

“I think I’ll spend a lot more time looking at our guys, not worrying about line matchups or any of that stuff,” Cassidy said. “Hopefully the result goes our way, but we’re looking for how we’re playing as a team – are we playing with energy and pace? – and at the individuals we’re evaluating. Are they able to do what they’re asked to do?”

The Bruins and Canadiens don’t face each other in the regular season until January, when they play three times in the space of a week: The B’s visit the Bell Centre on consecutive Saturday nights (Jan. 13 and 20), with Julien’s return to TD Garden sandwiched in between, on Jan. 17.

Around the boards: Cassidy said Zane McIntyre and Malcolm Subban, the goaltending duo at AHL Providence for the bulk of the last two seasons, will travel to Quebec. … Following the Monday-Tuesday back-to-backs, the B’s complete a four-game week with a Thursday night home game against the Flyers, and a Saturday night trip to Little Ceasars Arena, the new home of the Detroit Red Wings.

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